Self-Help Groups for Emergency Services

[RWC130 594]

Self-Help Groups for Emergency Services

If you’re trying to stop drinking, peer support groups can be an invaluable source of guidance, assistance, and encouragement. Groups are very helpful, not only in maintaining sobriety, but also as a safe place to get support and discuss challenges.

Connecting with others who know first-hand what you’re going through can help reduce feelings of isolation, fear, and hopelessness. Staying motivated and positive is much easier when you have others you can turn to and lean on to help you.

We have available to us Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings at various locations worldwide but... What if an addiction problem isn't the issue? Maybe you just want to discuss a call, incident or something is bothering you.......

Perhaps the Firehouse or Ambulance Corps isn't a place you feel comfortable chatting.....

Could a meeting like this make a MOS feel better?

Would YOU share a story or help someone just by listening?

This is NOT to replace the interventions by Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) or Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) that we call upon after a death or bad incident more so just a place to go and chat with fellow Police Officers, Firefighters, EMT's, Paramedics and Dispatchers.

FEEDBACK IS MUCH APPRECIATED

[FFPCogs 863]

Peer and self help groups can be an invaluable tool in helping people cope, but those groups should meet behind closed doors. The internet is not the place to share some things, and personal turmoil or stress stemming from one's service definitely top the list. What EMTBravo or other such sites could offer is a guide to finding such groups.

[firemoose827 324]

I myself have gone through and are still dealing with issues from the past calls. I did the wrong thing and held it inside, now I am paying for it. I was thinking about how to reach out to others so they dont do the same thing I did. This is a perfect idea for us, as a support to those that need to talk. I am open to talk to people who need to, just contact me.

There is also a web site I used to belong to and forgot the whole name, but it was counselors, FD Chaplains and Salvation Army personnel that were reaching out to first responders as an avenue to vent and talk about things they see on calls. I believe it was "Emergency and Disaster Responders" or something similar. I will look it up and have it for those that want to check it out.

I feel we need to talk about stuff with others that have gone through it, its better than trying to explain it to someone with no experience and still get any help...when they have no clue its hard to help.

Good idea.

[RWC130 594]

Sometimes just a talk is all you need.

I'm working on a project. More information to follow.

Thank you for the replies.

[AFS1970 504]

I think it is a good idea, one problem that will come up is affiliation. In CISD/CISM it is usually considered taboo to debrief your own department or incident. I can see that a project like this will require you to talk about stuff with someone from several towns away. Not impossible, but might be a little impractical in a short term setting. One of the things that makes AA and other similar programs work is that they have local groups, that anyone can go to and they pride themselves on maintaining confidentiality. In CISD/CISM there is always the fear that word will get back to your department about how "screwed up" you really are. Still, I am interested in seeing where this project goes.

[velcroMedic1987 330]

Most employers and/or unions have an Employee Assistance Program that can help employees/members with issues such as these.

You shouldn't go through it alone and you should be able to get help without involving or informing your boss.

[FFPCogs 863]

While employer sponsored or "official" help is a good thing and I'm not saying that avenue should be rejected, sometimes a more grass roots approach can make all the difference. By that I mean something more along the lines of AA or other "A" for anonymous group. An ear and a bit of advice from a group of people in your shoes often times provides just what's needed more so than what a PhD can offer. They have never seen what you've seen or done what you've done and thus cannot relate in real terms to the life of someone in public safety and the pressures that life can exert on every other aspect of our lives...only we know that. Often times just knowing you're not alone can have a healing effect in it's own right and lift the haze of hopelessness and depression as people not only get the help they need but help others. Besides in today's world of therapy it seems to me it's more about prescribing this or that pill to solve a problem rather than learning the skills to cope and face it squarely.